Lew-Port ends year on high note

The Lewiston-Porter
Central School District is ending the 2013-14 academic year on a high note with
the receipt of a major grant and several faculty and students being honored
Tuesday night.

The session included
words of appreciation to district voters from Superintendent of Schools
Christopher Roser for their support of the 2014-15 budget. Roser said he knew
it was hard for the residents to vote themselves a tax increase.

"People are seeing that
schools are doing well for the students," said Roser. "I'm happy the budget is
through, and I am looking forward to another year."

In financial news,
Lew-Port is the recipient of a $1,241,455 three-year grant that has its focus
on getting students fit and showing them how to keep fit throughout their
entire lives. "Get Fit Step by Step" is already underway with the awarding of
the Carol M. White PEP Grant on April 15. Activities began May 1 and will
continue through the 2017 academic year.

Project Director Paula
Singleton explained that the project is a comprehensive, integrated physical
education activity and nutrition program that allows Lew-Port to initiate,
expand and improve the current physical education offerings.

"Through these programs,
it is expected that students will develop an appreciation for lifelong healthy
nutrition and physical education habits and make progress toward meeting the
state standards for physical education," explained Singleton. "We tried three
times for this grant, and the third time we made it," she continued.

Singleton went on to
explain that Lew-Port would be adding equipment to each of its buildings,
including age-appropriate fitness areas with state-of-the-art equipment such as
treadmills, climbing walls and Sport Smart Walls. There also will be activity
monitors with built-in pedometers and heart rate monitors, allowing students to
be fully evaluated through an effective collection and reporting of activity
data.

Professional development
for faculty is also included, and a major component will be working with three
community partners: the YMCA of Buffalo Niagara, Mount St. Mary's Hospital and
the Town of Lewiston.

Recognitions continued,
as Lewiston-Porter Board of Education President Michael Gentile and Roser recognized
Beth Truax with presentation of the Phi Delta Kappa Excellence in Middle School
Teaching Presidential Award. Truax is retiring at the end of this year.

The two also recognized
High School Principal Paul Casseri, who was awarded the SAANYS Western New York
Region 12 High School Principal of the Year Award. Lew-Port students Mariela
Mulready and Finley Duerr were singled out as being the PE Central Jump Rope
for Heart top fundraisers.

More than 400 students took part in the Jump Rope for Heart event on March
10. Students jumped non-stop for 30 minutes and raised $8,895 for the American
Heart Association.

The board received an update on the Academy of International Business and
Finance from Director Nicole Alonzo. The academy will graduate seven seniors
this year and has accepted 30 freshmen into the program for next year.

The academy provides students the opportunity to study global issues in a
multi-disciplinary setting as well as develop their skills in public speaking
and professionalism. Included in the academy program is a 150-hour, compensated
internship for students who are between their junior and senior years.

"The preparation for college is huge," said AIBF Board President Janet
Schiff-DiFiore. "These students are way ahead of the game and the program gives
Lew-Port students a head start to college and life."

Alonzo explained that there have been adjustments made to the academy to
meet the needs of students as it has grown since its inception. Academy
organizers are now looking at creating a WNY board of advisors, working with
Niagara University and other WNY academies and continuing their search for
internship opportunities and persons interested in becoming part of the Friends
of the Academy board.

"The internship program gives students an opportunity to be part of the
real world," explained Sarah DiFiore, a graduate of the program now attending
the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. "I learned how to handle stress and
the insane workload I have now through this program."

The academy will hold its senior breakfast June 6 in the high school
library.

In other board business:

•The board issued a statement regarding a request for a transfer of
property in the Town of Porter/Wilson School District to the Lewiston-Porter
School District.

"Regretfully, at this time the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education is unable
to respond appropriately or meaningfully to Mrs. Deborah Parker's request to
modify the Lewiston-Porter Central School District's boundaries to include a
portion of the Wilson Central School District. Additional information is
necessary for the Board of Education of Lewiston-Porter to consider her
request; however, the Wilson Board of Education has already denied their
request, short-circuiting the ability of Lewiston-Porter to further consider
Mrs. Parker's request."

Gentile explained that there have been discussions among the board members
of other school districts regarding the possibility of shared services or
consolidation in the light of school budgets and the retirement of Roser at the
end of the 2014-15 academic year. "We felt these discussions were appropriate
at this time," said Gentile. "However the reception from the other districts
was tepid. Districts are very territorial, but we felt we had to explore all
the possibilities. We owe it to the community to explore different models in
order to run more fiscally responsible." •Tenure was granted to Kelly Baio,
Karen Yager and Lori Hurtgam in the area of special education. Baio and Yager
were cited for their willingness to move to special education after they were
among those laid off during budget cuts a year ago. Both were also certified in
special ed., as well as in their respective teaching areas of the Intermediate
Education Center and Middle School, providing them the opportunity to relocate.

•Approval was granted for students to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, in
November and to Tianjin, China, in March.

•Approval was granted to auction off items that are no longer useful to the
district. This will be handled through an online auction with a link on the
district website.

•The board accepted donations from retired elementary staff members. These
include school supplies that will be distributed to students in need.

•Upcoming dates to note
include June 6: breakfast of champions; June 12: junior honors induction; June
13: Flag Day celebration at the PEC and IEC at 2:30 p.m.; June 25: moving up
day; and June 27: high school graduation, at Artpark, 7 p.m. The next Board of
Education meeting will be Tuesday, June 17, 6:30 p.m. in the Community Resource
Center.